I put my money on “no restarts, unless patient has figured out a way to temporarily remove the xmitter from the sensor”. I do not believe the quoted post about “day 13…” as I’ve seen a lot of mistaken (and subsequently recanted postings) on FB regarding restarts.
Looking forward to your report! 
I will say that the user on Facebook in question seems quite credible. He’s followed up multiple times with specific details about what he did. I’ve closely followed his various posts in the G5/G6 user group. Short of him outright lying (which seems like quite a stretch) it seems likely that something occurred which allowed him to successfully restart. But I’ll know for myself later this evening!
1 Like
I look forward to reading about your G6 sensor restart account. Yeah, the Facebook G6 restart on the G5/G6 Dexcom group does seem credible but at this point, until someone repeats his experience, it seems to be an outlier.
1 Like
Integrated Diabetes is Gary Scheiner’s company. I’m reading the same info over on the Facebook Looped group. Other’s have posted that more than one source has confirmed this. We shall see if this solution holds and applies to all G6’s.
Well, I attempted. The verdict? No dice.
I’ve attached screenshots documenting each step in the process.
-
Image 1: G6 sensor expires 10 days after insertion. I press OK.
-
Image 2: After pressing “OK” it returns to the main screen with the “Start Sensor” button. I pressed this.
-
Image 3: The dialog box prompting for a sensor code pops up. Based on others experiences I knew my best chance was to do “No Code” and have it require calibrations. I pressed “No Code”
-
Image 4: App returned to the main screen and showed the Sensor Warmup dialog and started the 2 hour countdown.
-
Image 5: ~37 minutes into warmup my phone buzzed with a Dexcom notification. It was the “we’re on to you” message: No Restarts.
-
Image 6: I clicked on the notification and the app launched to a splash screen stating that “Sensors can only be used for one session” and that I must replace my sensor.
So there you have it. A pretty straight forward failure. Now on to what stands out to me/what questions I have.
- It’s interesting that it doesn’t seem like the system is able to immediately establish if the sensor is new or not. I am one of many who has reported that the warmup initially starts but then some time later the failure message pops up.
This may provide clues to how the detection is happening. (Is it part of their algorithm? Is it relying on sensor values that look abnormal? Or is that just the lag time while it determines whether the transmitter has been removed from the sensor housing and then reconnected or not.) - When I removed the sensor, I got my first chance to really closely examine the sensor itself, the design of the transmitter, and how they mesh. There are multiple design elements that are clearly intended to make the transmitter difficult to impossible to remove from the sensor housing without first pulling the sensor off your skin.
- There are plastic tabs on either side of the sensor that snap in place to lock the transmitter in. Additionally the transmitter has a “nose” of plastic that latches into the transmitter. Finally there is an additional design on the bottom of the transmitter that is a bit like a tongue in groove design. Once the two mesh together and transmitter is snapped in it is QUITE solidly held in place by multiple methods.
Some have speculated that the ultimate fix may involve dremeling or filing away some of the transmitter plastic to make it possible to remove the transmitter while the sensor remains on the skin. While this might be possible, a close examination of the transmitter/sensor design makes it clear to me that this will be a tricky procedure and likely beyond most “average” patients comfort levels.
You may say “well what about modifying the SENSOR instead of the transmitter?” I agree that would be less scary, but see… Dexcom has it covered there too. Enter the new auto-applicator. The sensor and sensor housing are completely protected inside the hard plastic applicator housing and are not accessible until AFTER you’ve used the applicator to insert it under your skin. At that point modifying the sensor itself will be significantly more challenging than if it was loose and not attached to the body already.
Takeaway? Dexcom seems to have been thorough in complying with the FDA’s mandate that “the device must include appropriate measures to ensure that disposable sensors cannot be used beyond its claimed sensor wear period”. While I have no doubt that some determined diabetics will eventually find away around the restriction (whether it’s with a hardware modification or a software break through something like xDrip), I think that the end “solution” may be more complicated than the average patient will accept.
2 Likes
Dang. That’s what I was afraid of–that the sensor can’t be extricated from the applicator, in order to be modified prior to insertion. That really throws a monkey wrench into the DIY fix for no restarts. Hmmm…maybe a trusted friend with a Dremel AND a steady hand. LOL!
any chance u can take some close up, clear photos of the underside of the xmitter as well as a photo of the top of the sensor?
You can see high resolution shots of the transmitter in Dexcom’s FCC Filing. Underside, top. (While this was a pre-production model, I can confirm that nothing appears to have changed with the design. This looks exactly like my transmitter.)
1 Like
Silly question – maybe the difference is the phone app vs. the receiver? And we’ve not yet found out what the hackers among us can accomplish…
Thank you for sharing your report!!! Disappointed in the findings but grateful to have your thorough reporting. 
I’d like to see some detailed pictures of the transmitter cradle.
Thanks for all the info. Very well documented and detailed. Obviously you spent some time on this. Very much appreciated !!!
Agreed - That was right in line with my first thought on reading your post. This certainly stands out as odd. What it means and the reason for such is open to conjecture.
Sounds quite plausible.
I don’t think silly. Obviously with xdrip it is the application which is able to allow usage of a G5 transmitter well beyond the 3 months (112 days) of the intended lifespan.
Totally agree. Certainly one likes to hear good news. But IMHO the most important thing is accurate and trusted information. Your detailed reports are awesome. Particularly from my point of view who likes to be able to hold things and look at them myself. At this point in time, it is simply not practical for me to be able to do any of this myself.
1 Like
UPDATE HERE!
Today marks our 7th day with G6 and sadly I have to inform that since day 5 we have been experiencing a lot of signal loss and bad readings. Yesterday we got an intermittent “sensor error” message sometimes with accurate readings. This morning I called Dexcom to report it and they suggested to remove it. They claim it was a faulty sensor. 
️:worried:
One thing I have to admit is that when it worked fine the readings were VERY accurate.
Thanks for the report, Mila. Every data point helps.
I totally agree about the larger touch screen receiver. It is just too big, falls out of some pockets and does not fit well into bra. As it happens, as Medicare has now approved the Dexcom, and advertisements on TV tell people that they need to get one, a lot of new Dexcom users will not even realize that the older model is preferred. Thus the complaints from long time users will be drowned.
Hmmm. I’ve been using the G5 since early September of last year and I’ve had just one (and that’s even a “maybe”) “bad” sensor, so for you to already have a bad G6 doesn’t bode well, if you believe in odds.
I know, pretty frustrating! 
1 Like